The Texas Rangers are headed for a catcher squeeze, and the hardest part is that all three names on the board have a real argument.
Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Elias Diaz can all point to something that helps them stay. Jansen is the expensive one.
Diaz has been the best producer. Higashioka is the steady veteran the pitching staff trusts.
But with only two spots likely available, one of them is going to be the odd man out.
Jansen is the obvious place to start because the money is impossible to ignore. The Rangers signed him to a two-year deal and still owe him $8 million next year, plus a mutual option for $8 million more in 2028. That kind of commitment usually buys patience, but Jansen has not rewarded it this season while working back from a right forearm strain.
His line of .171/.277/.309 over 142 at-bats is a long way from his career mark of .216/.308/.409. Jansen’s overall profile has never been flashy - he owns a career .717 OPS - but he has typically been good for 10-15 home runs and around 40-45 RBIs over a full season.
This year, though, he has only three homers and 12 RBIs. He is still just 30 and carries a reputation as a plus defender, but Diaz has simply outplayed him.
Diaz has been the surprise of the group. The Rangers grabbed the 35-year-old journeyman for just $780,000, and he has delivered the best bat of the three with a .318/.311/.455 slash. A 2023 All-Star with the Rockies, Diaz is 14-for-44 in a Rangers uniform and has come through with some timely hits while filling in for Jansen.
The question is whether that production is enough to make Jansen the one who gets pushed aside, especially when he is the bigger financial investment.
Higashioka, meanwhile, feels like the safer glue piece. The 10-year veteran has the trust of the pitchers, and that matters.
Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker and MacKenzie Gore are all said to appreciate the way he handles a game with calm authority. He has had some issues this season, including a subpar arm and trouble throwing out runners, but he still fits the profile of a dependable platoon catcher.
That leaves the Rangers with a decision that goes beyond performance alone. Ray Davis and Chris Young have to decide whether they are willing to absorb a meaningful chunk of Jansen’s salary in order to keep the hotter hand in Diaz, or whether they want to wait for Jansen to rebound and make Diaz the one who moves on.
Diaz’s sample is still limited, and he turns 36 in November, so there is no perfect answer here. But he has shown a better arm and a better approach at the plate, and that has translated into more offense lower in the lineup.
If the call were up to the article’s view, the choice would be to listen on Jansen and keep Diaz, because he has been better across the board and has hit 20 points higher in his career. Even if Diaz cools off some, the longer view points to more production from him.
In Other News...
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The bigger issue for Texas is that the roster does not lend itself to a clean deadline selloff. Some players do have trade value, but many are tied to long-term, expensive contracts, which makes them tougher to move as straightforward deadline chips. That leaves Chris Young in a familiar kind of spot: if the Rangers stay in the hunt, the more likely path may be to chase help rather than strip the roster down, even if the market list suggests Texas itself is not producing obvious trade bait. [Read more 🡒]
Luis Arraez Is Already Being Tied To One Trade Landing Spot
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For Texas, the timing makes the rumor feel more practical than speculative. The Rangers have shuffled through six different players at second base, with Nicky Lopez getting the recent starts there, so the position has remained unsettled while the lineup searches for consistency. Arraez would give them a very different look if they decided to chase him, but for now it remains the kind of deadline fit that sounds clean on paper and could become much more real depending on what San Francisco decides to do next. [Read more 🡒]